For Someone Besides Himself
by KathyG
Summary: What happened to the creatures in Chapter 11: "Aslan is Nearer," that the White Witch turned into stone statues when she discovered that Father Christmas had given them the means to celebrate? Did Aslan do something about it? This little one-shot explains how that could have happened.


**For Someone Besides Himself**

**By KathyG.**

**What happened to the creatures in Chapter 11: "Aslan is Nearer," that the White Witch turned into stone statues when she discovered that Father Christmas had given them the means to celebrate? C.S. Lewis never explained in **_**The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe**_**, but I'd like to think that Aslan found about it and did something. This little one-shot, which is set in Chapter 17: "The Hunting of the White Stag," explains how that could have happened. (I want to thank my beta-reader, dreamflower02, for her help in improving this story!)**

**Disclaimer****: Aslan, the Pevensie children, and the creatures of Narnia are not my creation, but C.S. Lewis's.**

Edmund sat cross-legged on the grass with his brothers and sisters not far from where the battle had ended earlier that day, and drank his tea. Since it was past eight o'clock, the moon had risen a short time before, and the stars had started to come out. However, as he took a bite of a thick, half-eaten slice of bread, slathered with butter and jam, he could not stop thinking about the party that the White Witch had interrupted a couple of days before, when she had been driving Edmund in her sledge to his intended death; misery lay like a stone in the boy's gut. For the first time since before Lucy had first entered Narnia, he had felt sorry for someone besides himself, and to that moment, his feelings had not changed. The poor animals, dwarf, and satyrs had been stone statues for the past two days now, and unless Aslan did something about that, they would remain statues forever. Edmund did not want that to happen, but the trouble was, he could not remember where they were. It had still been snowing when the Witch had enspelled them with her wand.

He finally decided to tell Aslan—surely, the Lion could do something! If only Edmund could remember where those poor victims had been! He saw Aslan standing in the moonlight some distance away from them, with his back to the children, his great furry tail swishing from side to side. Laying his half-eaten slice of bread on its plate alongside the slices of cold meat and setting the plate on the ground, Edmund scrambled to his feet.

As he approached Aslan, the Lion turned around and watched the boy approach. Edmund hung his head as he drew near. "Aslan," he said, "there are some others in another part of Narnia that have been statues for a couple of days now. The Witch turned them into statues as she and her dwarf were driving me in her sledge toward the Stone Table; that was where she was going to kill me, only we never got there. I do not know where they are; it was still snowing when it happened. I do not want them to remain statues." Raising his head, he looked Aslan in the eyes. "Please, Aslan, can you find them and change them back?"

Aslan gazed at him for a long moment. "It will not be impossible to find them," he said. "Tell me where you started from, and in which direction the Witch and her dwarf took you."

Edmund furrowed his eyebrows in concentration as he looked back on that earlier dreadful moment. "We started out in the sledge at the castle the night before," he said, "and headed west. The Witch said that she would have to go many miles to the west to find a place where she could drive across the river. And all night long, that's what we did. The next morning, we were still going west when we came across a group of creatures having a party." He paused for a moment, thinking.

"A family of squirrels, a dwarf, a fox, and a couple of satyrs; the fox was the eldest of that group," Edmund said slowly. "They were all sitting on stools around a table outside, Aslan, at the foot of a tree, just a little way off from where we were. I could tell they were celebrating, because I saw what appeared to be decorations of holly, and what looked to be plum pudding. They were all eating and drinking and celebrating, which made the Witch so angry." He gazed into Aslan's eyes. "She demanded that they tell her who had given those things to her, and they told her that Father Christmas had. That made the Witch even angrier. She did not want to believe it, and she demanded that they take back what they had just said. But they would not, because he really had, and so she turned them all into stone statues."

With a sigh, Edmund shook his head. "I tried to talk her out of it, Aslan, but all she did was slap me really hard and then shout at me, after she had turned them into stone. She was so cruel; she really was. As we went on, the snow melted, so finally, the Witch and her dwarf abandoned the sledge and made me walk the rest of the way, tied up."

"And where did you start from?" Aslan asked.

"The courtyard of her castle," Edmund said.

Aslan nodded. "I know where to go from there," he said. "I will find them and change them back."

Edmund smiled in gratitude. "Shall I go with you?"

Aslan shook his head. "No, Edmund, that will not be necessary. I know where to find them, based on what you have told me. I will leave right now and return with them." With that said, he whirled around and bounded off. Edmund rejoined Peter, Susan, and Lucy, and finished his high tea. When he and his brother and sisters had finished eating, they curled up on the grass and went to sleep. A soft, cool breeze brushed Edmund's face,

At dawn the next morning, as the Pevensie children and the rest of the army were sitting cross-legged on the grass, chatting, a soft growl caught everyone's attention. Everyone turned to see the Lion approaching them with a party of creatures that Edmund immediately recognized. A few baby squirrels sat on the back of their father, who was scampering alongside his wife toward the children. A fox darted ahead of them. The satyrs and the dwarf trotted alongside the squirrels, huffing and puffing.

Squealing with joy, Edmund leaped to his feet and darted toward them. "I am _so_ glad to see you!" he cried out. "I was so worried when that Witch turned you into stone. I am so happy that Aslan has released you."

"We are, too," said the father squirrel. "Fortunately, we don't remember being statues. The last thing we remember is the Witch waving her wand at us. That's all we do remember until Aslan stood before us. He told us that he had just breathed on us to break the spell. Then he asked us to come here, told us that there would be a greater celebration at Cair Paravel than the Witch had allowed us to enjoy. So here we are."

The squirrel gazed at the other three children, as Peter, Susan, and Lucy all dashed toward them to join Edmund. "Is it true that you children are going to become Kings and Queens of Narnia?"

Aslan answered for the Pevensie children. "Yes, it is true," he said. "Now that the White Witch is dead, it is time for the prophecy to be fulfilled at last. But first, we must all go to Cair Paravel. That is where the coronation will be held, and that is where these Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve will rule Narnia. It will be a long march, so we had better eat now, and be on our way."

And so, after breakfast, the whole army began marching eastward down the side of the great river, stopping to spend the night on the riverbank while the sun was setting. At teatime the next day, they all reached the river's mouth on the shore of the sea. The castle of Cair Paravel towered above them all on its little hill.

"You children may play this evening, after high tea," the Lion said, "because tomorrow is going to be a very serious day. Tomorrow is when you are all going to be crowned. Starting tomorrow, Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve, you will all have a very big responsibility to fulfill. It is a responsibility that I expect you to take seriously. All of you." He looked from one child to another as he spoke. All four children nodded seriously and exchanged nervous glances. The creatures looked just as serious.

Then Peter nodded toward the beach. "All right, who wants to play in the sand?"

"Me!" Lucy cried, as she scampered down to the sandy beach.

_At least,_ Edmund thought_,_ as he raced his brother and sisters down to the beach,_ these new friends are free of the spell. And they will be able to celebrate to their heart's content, and I am so glad. I am _very_ glad!_ With a broad smile, he bent over to take his shoes and stockings off.

3


End file.
